Links & Commentary Weekend 3/11-13

U.S. Fate 2016Tulsi Gabbard gave Bernie Sanders an endorsement. He gave her a platform on war and peace.[WaPo]
Here’s his foreign policy! She also rocked the introduction at his rally in Miami, Fla., which was one of the most enthusiastic yet. The audience was yelling his lines before he said them. [Apologies for the bad video quality; this is the best I could find with Tulsi’s intro. There is a better-quality video of Bernie’s speech on ABC-TV.)

The Daily 202: Four reasons Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic debate[WaPo]

5 times Hillary Clinton has played fast and loose with the facts on Bernie Sanders’s record[WaPo]
And also this. Could it be that the Post actually took FAIR‘s criticism to heart?

What Sanders should have said to Clinton about the auto bailout[CNN Money]
As you know, I support Bernie Sanders, but that doesn’t mean I think everything he does is wonderful. He bombed on this one. It was effing Flint, Mich. He should have been prepared.

Hillary Clinton, Stalwart Friend of World’s Worst Despots, Attacks Sanders’ Latin American Activism[Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept]
No question this was a set-up, and it’s not hard to guess how it happened. The owner of Univision, the channel that sponsored Wednesday night’s debate in Miami, was

Dick Cheney heaps praise on Hillary Clinton[The Telegraph]Former US vice president Dick Cheney has praised Hillary Clinton as one of the more competent members of President Barack Obama’s administration, saying it would be “interesting to speculate” on how she would perform as president. This is probably one endorsement she could do without.

Justice Dept Grants Immunity to Staffer Who Set Up Clinton’s Email Server[Peter Van Buren]
Van Buren spent 24 years at the State Department, so it’s fair to say that he has inside knowledge. This blog post is nearly two weeks old, but because of Van Buren’s unique insight, it’s one of the most lucid articles on the Internet on this topic and free of speculation and political bias. In this blog post, he lays out the critical questions that need to be asked during interrogation of Bryan Pagliano, who set up and maintained Hillary’s private server, while also employed full-time by the State Deparment.

Inside Rubio’s collapse: A fateful decision that helped unravel his campaign[WaPo]Marco Rubio had suffered three electoral thumpings in a row when the senator from Florida and his image-makers abruptly shifted strategy. The aspirational candidate, whose presidential campaign was built on a promise of generational change and Republican unity, would morph overnight into Donald Trump’s chief assailant.

The Reason Bernie Sanders Defied The Polls In Michigan[Think Progress]The more black voters hear about Sanders’ policies, the more they support him.

TidesKeith Emerson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer Keyboardist, Dead at 71[Rolling Stone]
Santa Monica police found Emerson in his home, with a single gunshot wound to the head. TMZ reported that he had been suffering from depression, evidently triggered by degenerative nerve disease in one hand that had limited his ability to play. Emerson’s pioneering use of the Moog synthesizer appeals to the Aquarius in me, although the recording I immediately thought of when I read the news of his death wasn’t one of ELP’s trademark synth pieces, such as “Lucky Man” or “From the Beginning.” Maybe I should of thought of “Take a Pebble,” which features Emerson’s virtuosity on the piano. But what I remembered most was Emerson’s 18-minute piano concerto from “Works,” a lesser-known album that got mixed reviews. Very Aquarian, actually, to gravitate toward the stuff that others overlook.

Emerson’s natal chart features a tight conjunction of the Moon and Uranus in Gemini in the eleventh house. Uranus is associated with science, technology, innovation, and electricity. It is the ruler of Aquarius in modern Western astrology and has a natural affiliation with the eleventh house. The Moon represents one’s most compelling need. Gemini rules the arms and hands, while Uranus is associated with motor nerves.

Phobos & DeimosCondoleezza to the People of Ukraine: Just Be Glad You Aren’t Liberian![Observer]

Financial AstrologyRay Merriman’s Weekly Comments for the Week Beginning March 14, 2016[MMA]Here we go. Between March 6 and March 26 there will be ten important geocosmic signatures unfolding. Some of these involve long-term planetary aspects, like the Jupiter/Pluto trine this week, March 16, and the Jupiter/Saturn square of March 23. Markets don’t always reverse right on the date of a long-term planetary signature, but these cosmic events are useful for timing longer-term cycles within nine months, and usually just three months or less. They are also useful for understanding the psychological dynamics in effect for world political and banking leaders, as well as changes of focus in world markets.

The Judicial SystemPresident Obama reportedly is down to three finalists for Supreme Court vacancy[WaPo]The three under consideration are Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Sri Srinivasan, a judge on the same court; and Paul Watford, a judge on the California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The Republicans have not relented in their vow – at least not on the record – to prevent Obama from naming a Supreme Court justice. That would be in keeping with the extraordinary political climate of 2016. The justice system and prominent judges fall under the rulership of Jupiter, who is in a debilitated sign, retrograde, and in a volatile planetary configuration with Saturn and Neptune that will continue through the end of June.

Ohio judge rules some 17-year-olds can vote in primary[The Hill]
The Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit, but it wasn’t the only one. Young people are Bernie’s base, so this was done in self-interest, but he sounded sincere in his advocacy for civic engagement starting as young as possible.

Red PillThe Most Important 2016 Issue You Don’t Know About [The New Republic]
“Antitrust regulation may sound dull,” writes David Dayden. “It’s also the root of our economic evils.” When Bernie Sanders talks about the “millionayahs and billionayahs” versus the 99 percent, this is what he’s talking about. It’s not just “dull,” but for many people, it’s incomprehensible, and so they tune out. As the 2016 U.S. presidential election unfolds against the Saturn-Neptune square, voters will need to tune back in and get a grip on the reality. This will be our last chance before a succession of planetary cycles, including the U.S. Pluto return.

A Crisis With No Capitalist Way Out[CounterPunch]
Ron Jacobs is remarkably clear and persuasive in this review of Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century, a newly published book by socialist writer John Smith. This is where we need to go, and it will be up to the people to push humanity in that direction, because there is no immediately discernible advantage for the rich and powerful to give up their elite status.

Paradigm ShiftA Republican Meltdown Won’t Make the Democrats Better[Black Agenda Report]
Glen Ford’s farsighted article on how this election cycle could change the two political parties in the United States and possibly the two-party system itself.

The PlutocracyAt Secretive Meeting, Tech CEOs And Top Republicans Commiserate, Plot To Stop Trump[HuffPo]
I’m not a big fan of The Donald, but I support his candidacy 100 percent. That is to say, I support the right of rank-and-file Republicans to choose their nominee, however misguided I believe them to be. If the party leadership overrules Republican voters, then whatever tiny shred of democracy we have left disappears. It’s like believing in the First Amendment and extending the right to free speech to pornography. I hate it, but I hate censorship even more.

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First-term Democratic Senator Kamala Harris of California, a rising party star and outspoken critic of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, launched her 2020 campaign for the White House on Monday by touting her experience as a prosecutor.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration, where employees are going unpaid amid a partial government shutdown, said on Monday that unscheduled absences among U.S. airport security officers rose to a record 10 percent on Sunday as the shutdown reached its 31st day.

U.S. President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani backtracked on Monday from earlier comments that Trump pursued a business deal to erect a tower bearing his name in Moscow throughout 2016, saying his statements "were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the President."

The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that unscheduled absences among the more than 50,000 U.S. airport security officers rose to 10 percent on Sunday as the government shutdown continues.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday his proposed immigration deal to end a 30-day partial government shutdown would not lead to amnesty for "Dreamers," but he appeared to signal support for amnesty as part of a broader immigration agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump pursued a business deal to erect a tower bearing his name in Moscow throughout 2016, his attorney said on Sunday, raising new questions for congressional investigators looking into possible ties between the president and Russia.

U.S. President Donald Trump proposed an immigration deal on Saturday in a bid to end a 29-day partial government shutdown, including temporary protections for "Dreamers" and other immigrants, but Democrats immediately dismissed it.